Materials

Back and Side Sets

• Honduran mahogany (swietenia macrophylla)
  This is traditional mahogany, one of the two traditional woods used on Martin style 18 guitars. Central America's supply of mahogany is beginning to dwindle, so it is becoming an endangered wood. There are beginning to be restrictions on commercial harvesting of mahogany, so substitutes of mahogany (such as sapele) are beginning to grow in popularity. Like many good tonewoods, the increasing price of Honduran mahogany reflects the decreasing supply.
• Koa (acacia koa)
  Koa is a beautiful wood from Hawaii that has tonal properties between mahogany and rosewood. The world's (i.e., Hawaii's) supply of koa is dwindling and the species, too, is on the way to extinction. Figure is highly sought in koa, so the price of koa varies dramatically with the amount of figure (curl or flame) in the particular piece of wood. Plain koa is affordable (but more expensive than mahogany), but flamed koa can be quite expensive.
• East Indian rosewood (dalbergia latifolia)
  The most popular rosewood used in guitars today, and one that is plentiful. Indian rosewood's popularity and availability have caused many people to avoid it as "too ordinary." It almost certainly gives you the "best bang for the buck" in guitar backs and sides. Indian rosewood has many of the characteristics of Brazilian rosewood, although it tends not to have as much character, and certainly not as much diversity in pattern. East Indian rosewood is often nicely quartered. It is an excellent rosewood for musical instuments; if it were scarce, it would be sought after and expensive.
• Palo Escrito rosewood (dalbergia palo escrito)
  This is rosewood from Mexico, and it is plentiful. It is distinctive with a light background with reddish/orangish grain and figure. It makes a very nice sounding rosewood guitar, at about the same cost as East Indian rosewood.
• Honduran rosewood (dalbergia stevensonii)
  One of the popular substitutes for Brazilian rosewood. Not as much diversity in pattern (but more than in East Indian rosewood). Tends toward brownish and reddish colors. There seems to be a good supply of Honduran rosewood, so it is usually mid-priced (and an excellent bargain).
• Amazon rosewood (dalbergia spruceana)
  This is rosweood is becoming more scarce, and hence more costly. It has a nice regular pattern, and tends toward the reddish/orangish rosewood color. Amazon rosewood is hard to get, so it tends to be expensive. That being said, one large luthier supplier has been selling a lot of Amazon rosewood in the last year or so, while its largest competitor no longer carries it (due to unavailability).
• Madagascar rosewood (dalbergia baroni/trichocarpa/maritime)
  An African rosewood, but still a dalbergia. It can have an unusual pattern, and tends to run to darker colors, while still retaining a reddish tint. This is a very nice Brazilian rosewood substitute and is usually pretty expensive.
• Brazilian rosewood (dalbergia nigra)
  This was Martin's preferred rosewood until 1969, at which time they began to use East Indian Rosewood to make Style 21 and higher guitars. Brazilian rosewood has been under export restriction from Brazil since June 1992 (wood harvested before that time is not restricted, but also essentially no longer available). So ... it is difficult to get Brazilian rosewood ... and the wood that is available is quite expensive.

Other materials are available by orders, e.g., Sapele (mahogany substitute), maple, and claro walnut. If there is another material in which you are interested, let's discuss it.

Tops

• Sitka spruce (picea sitchensis). The workhorse of spruce guitar tops. Sitka is widely available and normal grades are inexpensive (bearclaw Sitka spruce can be pricy). It is an excellent top material. Like East Indian rosewood, if it were scarce it would be highly sought after and expensive.
• Engelmann spruce (picea engelmannii). Another Northwest spruce, but one that is softer and more flexible than Sitka spruce. It is also more expensive. Engelmann is especially well suited for guitars with light strings and for finger style guitars.
• Adirondack spruce (picea rubens). This is the kind of spruce that Martin used on their prewar guitars. It is a variety of red spruce that grows in the Adirondack mountains. Red spruce also grows in other areas, e.g., in Canada north of the Adirondacks, but red spruce (while biologically the same as Adirondack spruce) is not as highly favored for top material as is Adirondack spruce. Since supplies are scarce, quartered tops tend to have varying grain density, and will occasionally have runout on the edges. And Adirondack spruce tops are the most expensive, costing up to $500 or more a set.

Trim

Some guitars are trimmed with plastic/ivoroid, and others with wood. I am thinking about using wood bindings and purflings more, since some shipping companies now consider ivoroid and (plastic) tortise to be hazardous (flammable) to ship. Wood binding is a little harder to install but it has a richer appearance. Rosewood can be used in place of tortoise binding, and maple can be used for ivoroid. But sometimes, you really just want good old celluloid (plastic) binding.

Personally I am fond of the elegant simplicity of prewar Style 21 Martins. A Style 21 guitar has a modified Style 18 trim (same fretboard pattern and tortoise plastic binding as Style 18), but with rosewood back and sides. Prewar Style 21 guitars have a a herringbone rosette and backstrip, with ebony fingerboard and bridge.

Prewar Style 28 has black/white rosette, white binding with herringbone purfling, and a zipper backstrip.

Of course you can choose any trim package you wish, e.g., you could choose a Style 21 trim package with white binding (which doesn't match any Martin style).

Fingerboard and bridge

My standard fingerboard and bridge is ebony on Martin style guitars and rosewood on Gibson style guitars. You can get a custom look and feel using a cocobolo, ziricote, or other woods for the fingerboard and bridge.

Tuners

Standard tuners for Martin style guitars are Grover Sta-Tite tunrs, and Grover Kluson style for Gibson styles. Standard Sta-Tite tuners come in a style 98, which is the least expensive Grover vintage style tuner, the classic 14:1 ratio style 97, and a newer (and little more expensive) 18:1 ratio style 97. If you want really nice tuners, you might consider the Waverly Vintage tuners, although they are considerably more expensive than Grovers.

About Cases

The standard hardshell case is a flattop, 5-ply case built offshore. I buy these at retail prices from various sources for $60-$75, including taxes, shipping and handling, then add the cost to the price of the guitar. These cases are a fair value and offer good protection for your instrument. However, if you want a better case, or a case that is better sized to fit your guitar model exactly, let me know and I will order a TKL (e.g., a Prestige, Professional, or Elite arch-top), Martin Geib case, or other model as you desire. The price I pay for the case plus taxes, shipping, and/or handling will be added, and the cost of the standard case will be deducted, so your cost directly reflects the cost of the case that you choose.

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